Otto Frank in the office on the Prinsengracht, showing the number which was tattooed on his arm at the Auschwitz concentration camp. Of the eight people who hid in the Secret Annex, he is the only one to survive the Holocaust. On January 17, 1945 Auschwitz is liberated by Russian soldiers. Otto Frank is one of the few survivors. He weighs just 52 kilos (114 pounds). Once he has recovered a little he begins the long train journey back to the Netherlands.

First he goes by train to Russia, and then by ship to Marseilles in the south of France. He has to take this long way home because there is still fighting in many European countries. The Netherlands have not yet been liberated. Otto Frank only gets back to Amsterdam on June 3,1945. He goes straight to Miep and Jan Gies’s house.

Hope

Otto Frank still hopes that Anne and Margot are still alive, although he has not seen them since his arrival at Auschwitz. He already knows that his wife has died in Auschwitz. During his journey home a woman who was held prisoner in Auschwitz with Edith Frank has told him of her death.